Mutterings of a Mad Woman

I am pleased as poisoned punch to announce Dave the Dead - whom I've blogged about in the past - finally has his own blog. It's called The Shadow Farm, home to the most wonderful creatures.

Most of the handmade haunting props in his yearly display would be equally at home in an art gallery. Dave is a modest artist brimming with talent:

I have been an avid Halloween yard haunter for many years. As my hobby has grown, I have developed a taste for eccentric characters and deep backstories. I have learned a ton since I first decided to build my own scary stuff, and have attempted to take my building to a new artistic level with each new piece.

If it were possible to run on the Internet, I'd tell you to hustle your way over to his blog. You won't be disappointed. And tell him I sent you. *wink*

He will quickly become a household name amongst horror fans and dark artists.

Here's the first group of Underbiters, waiting for touch ups before they are given a protective coating. They turned out differently than how I first imagined, but that's usually how it is with my creations. I might begin with certain plans, but they always end up telling me where we're actually going in the design process.

Besides, these guys were the test group for me to experiment on. No wonder they ended up looking like a gang of misfits.

When they are finished, I'll properly introduce you to each one individually. For now, I hope you enjoy the group shot.

By the way, getting them to line up nicely was a nightmare, but hearing them all say "cheese!" at the same time made my heart melt.

Faithful friends and online followers know I love creating an atmosphere. I think details are often overlooked even though it's those small elements that bring a bigger picture together.

The Obscure Hollow is a website that celebrates the unsung hero of horror: the setting. From vintage film to photography, you will find one of the best collections of images highlighting not just things but places that go bump in the night.

There are so many artists in this show whom I've blogged about, I couldn't fit them all in my tag list for this post. In addition to those great artists, you'll also find Brandt Peters and Travis Louie, and many, many more.

It will all take place at the Copro Gallery in Santa Monica, California. Far, far away from my city of Toronto.

To rub salt into the wound, they're having some fantastic happenings within the show:

Hi-Fructose Magazine and Copro Gallery are proud to showcase an incredible array of artists in 'Overdose' the Hi-Fructose group art exhibition at Copro Gallery in Santa Monica. Hi-Fructose Collected Edition box sets will be available in limited quantities at the show and Greg Craola Simkins, Gary Baseman, Joe Ledbetter, Brian McCarty, Attaboy, and more special guests will be signing them. Brooklyn's own, 'Hearts Challenger' the guerilla style good-time ice cream truck will be on hand to give out free ice cream and candy and Hi-Fructose Vol.11 will premier at the show before the issue goes on sale in stores or online. Limited numbers of free issues and a free poster will be available at the show only! More surprises TBA

The rain poured down so aggressively this morning it woke me up. Glad that Yetch and I had taken advantage of yesterday's sunny afternoon (and equally pleased in the knowledge there's leftover barbecue nosh in the fridge), I got up to face the drastic change in weather.

Grey. Pouring. Cold. Windy. Migraine pending.

I shuffled into my home office, determined to check my work emails first but as always I went straight for my Ghoul Friday Inbox.

How I would describe Alex McVey: fine artist, talented, dark, and elusive.

Why elusive? There is very little information to be gleaned on the Internet when it comes to this illustrator from Texas. Sure, he's famous and many a horror fan starts salivating just at the mention of his name, but the details of the man are hard to track down.

I did find out he has been illustrating since 2004.

His work has been featured on everything from comics, to album covers, to high-end limited edition books.

On his extensive list of clients, you'll see the names of people such as Stephen King and Edward Lee (you can see McVey's cover art for Lee's "Trolley No. 1852" pictured right).

And most importantly, he likes banana shakes (ok, I made that part up. But I felt the post needed more insider information).

Hello my dark little darlings. I'm in the midst of putting the second layers of paint on five of my Underbiters, but this post isn't about them. It's about another project that's been shelved for a while.

It's great that Max (Marmota Monax) and the fur coat experiment turned out well. But now, if I make him any friends, they will also need a touch of realism. I suppose this is why Aucellus, his bird buddy, has been shelved for a while.

I'll have to wait for a really ambitious day before I start trying to apply the feathers.

The world can never have enough monsters. Especially custom made ones.

Today I will be posting about two different sites that focus on finding inspiration from the masses.

First is The Monster Engine. Dave Devries, a comic book and Universal Studio monster artist, made the observation that his niece's drawings of monsters were far more interesting and unique than many of the creatures created by adults. From this, the Monster Engine Book project was born.

On a gloomy, rainy Sunday morning, I can't think of a way to spend my time than playing in the magical world of Coraline.

For weeks I've been planning on posting about Coraline the Musical which runs from May 7 to June 20, 2009 at the MCC Theatre in New York. It kept slipping my mind because I've found so many ghoulish topics to blog about lately.

Luckily, a post from Would You Like to See Something Strange showcasing Coraline collector cards also mentioned the Coraline Website. It prompted me to stop and finally blog about it (right after I created my picture of Ghoul Friday with buttons for eyes. You can make your own on the website).

Other highlights include free desktop wallpapers, movie poster postcards and of course watching the circus mice perform. Speaking of which...